This is a very good story. And our regional partners are right — if there are to be any negotiations with Iran on regional issues, including ballistic missiles, the region needs to be there. 1/ https://www.politico.com/news/2020/12/22/arab-states-israel-say-they-want-in-on-future-iran-talks-449763

2/ Any agreements on these issues will not look like the JCPOA, with Iran receiving mainly economic concessions against what they view as essential parts of national security planning. So beware what you wish: if you’re at the table, it’s to make concessions as well as demands.

3/ That’s part of why people are wrong to overestimate the additional “leverage” provided by Trump’s sanctions.

4/ Going back into the JCPOA first, before trying such challenging regional security negotiations, does a few things:

5/ —resumes constraints on Iran’s nuclear program, a US national security priority

—lowers the temperature and risk of accidental escalation

—validates diplomacy & the US as a partner

6/ And, to the extent that US economic leverage can support further negotiations, we will retain plenty under the JCPOA.

7/ Also, worth remembering that negotiations with adversaries is not the only diplomatic tool. Negotiations with Iran outside the nuclear space are going to take a while, even under the best circumstances.

8/ In the meantime, we can make incremental progress on our concerns with other tools while still having a diplomacy-driven approach to Iran.

End.